by Gahan Hanmer
"Yes, he did. As soon as we came to a field big enough to gather his army around him, he made a speech from his horse. It was the airiest speech I ever heard. It was worse than the ones the presidents in the U.S. used to make."
"Used to make?"
"I almost forgot that the U.S. still exists. It's easy to forget, isn't it?"
"I'm only teasing you, Jack. I know exactly what you mean. As far as we're concerned it simply doesn't matter whether it ever existed or not. What did he say in his speech?"
"He thanked everyone for their loyalty and courage. He promised them peace and prosperity. He invited them all to your coronation. It had nothing to do with Lord Hawke."
"Yet everyone felt that the confrontation was a great success."
"That's true. Everyone was glad they came. That's the most important thing in case Albert has to turn them all out again. And the people who weren't there seemed to know all the details of what had gone on by the time we got back to the castle. The stablemen, and the kitchen help, and everybody else was talking about it when we arrived."
"Yes, the river valley grapevine is quite uncanny."
"I suppose everyone knows all about us, then."
She turned to look at me with just the hint of a pout, and I was sorry I'd mentioned it. "No, dear," she said. "No one knows a thing."
We began to get dressed. "I'm wondering whether Albert missed an opportunity," Jenna said.
"When was that?"
"When you were inside the duke's hall, did you by any chance see a hideous carved chair like a coffin with armrests?"
"Yes, I saw that. What about it?"
"Well, it wasn't made here, you see, and it's strictly against the rules to bring in anything from the outside. But the duke had it smuggled in somehow and there it sits in his hall. When Charlsey Dugdale heard about it she had a fit! The duke refused to part with it despite the scandal it created. It's like a symbol of his unwillingness to truly acknowledge Albert."
"That chair wasn't part of the terms."
"Well, it should have been. I'm very sorry Albert didn't think of it. The duke was compliant enough about all the other decrees. He destroyed the crossbows publicly. He disarmed his soldiers right away. He seems to be changing his whole attitude, although I suppose it's too early to say that. All in all, I think it's going to make for a very joyful coronation day."
Back in the stables, I helped Jenna down from her horse. In public, I was always very attentive to her in a friendly, brotherly way to blur other people's suspicions; with Albert it seemed to work fine. He often expressed his gratitude that I paid attention to her, since he was often busy and worried she was lonely.
His trust made me feel all the more guilty, of course. I had known Albert a long time and we had many shared experiences. In some ways I loved Albert more than I loved Jenna. But Jenna was a drug to me. She made the universe seem ineffably sweet and exciting, and I could not resist her. That I would some day have to pay for my treachery, I was certain. But it made no difference in how I behaved in the present. As for Jenna herself, she was loyal to Albert in her way, attentive to his moods and his needs. They seemed to be a happy couple and suited to one another.
"Thank you, Sir Jack," said Jenna. "That was a delightful outing. I'm going to bathe now; perhaps you will join us for dinner?"
"I would be very happy to, my lady." I watched her out of sight, and when I turned, there was Sir Rudy Strapp standing behind me.
"Hello, Rudy. I didn't see you come up." I had made it a personal policy to be more careful about what was going on behind me; obviously I wasn't being careful enough.
He gave me a hint of a smile, about as friendly as he ever got. "People never see me unless I want them to."
I thought immediately of a certain secluded lake, but I suppose it was just my guilt. "What's on your mind?"
"We need to talk about the coronation."
"What about it?"
"It's going to be very noisy and crowded. It's a perfect time for him to make a try for the king."
For a few moments I stared at him blankly until it dawned on me what he was talking about. "You think Hawke is going to try to hurt Albert?"
"Sure, don't you?"
"Well, I hadn't really thought about it."
"Well, maybe you oughta think about it."
The last few days since Albert had settled with Guy Hawke had been the most idyllic of my life. My chest had been sore again when we came home from the confrontation, so I spent the first day lying around in my robe, eating often and enjoying my popularity. The second day I went hawking with Albert and Jenna and some of the knights, and though we didn't catch anything we had a delightful time singing rounds and passing the wineskin. There seemed to be nothing to worry about under the sun, no excuse for not being perfectly happy. The little bag of gold I had been given would easily last forever, and everyone I met wanted to give me something to eat or drink, or pay me a compliment.
I wanted to believe that the problem with the duke had been laid to rest, at least for the time being, and I wanted a vacation. But as soon as I decided to think about it, it was easy to see that the duke's compliance had been nothing more than a mask. It was easy enough to remember the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice, and the ambiguity of his words.
"Maybe you oughta think about what's gonna happen to you without King Albert. Have you thought about that?"
"But do you honestly think he would try to murder the king?"
"Okay, listen. The king used to go away from time to time, right? Sometimes he was gone a month or even more. If anything serious came up, the duke was always in charge. He was like acting king. And even when Albert was here, he always did what he wanted to do. If he wanted to make crossbows, he made crossbows. Now Albert is going to stay home for good, and he's trying to take over the power he used to share with the duke. He wants the duke to be like Dugdale or Griswold now."
"And you don't think he's going to back down that far."
"Put it this way: he's not going to back down at all."
"Let's go talk to Sir Leo."
We found Sir Leo at the first place we looked, which was the archery butt. He was just beginning an archery lesson for some of the knights and soldiers, so Rudy and I took the class along with them. Afterwards we told him what we were thinking about the coronation, and he caught on right away.
"I have been very blind about this," he said. "Of course I didn't think it was the end of the story with the duke. But I thought—or I wanted to think—that we were going to have a rest from that problem for awhile. I am not suspicious enough by nature for the responsibility I have here."
"Maybe the next person we need to talk to is King Albert."
"Nenny," said Rudy. Leo shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Let's go get ourselves something to eat, and we can talk it over," said Leo.
Pretty soon we were sitting around the table by the hearth in the empty dining room, eating a meal that Hélène had put up for us. "I don't see any possibility of an attack in force," said Leo. "Everyone would rally to the king, and the attack would fail. The duke would be dead or in the dungeon, and he would never get a second chance."
"That's my opinion too, for what it's worth," I said. "If the attack comes at all, it will have to be some kind of treachery like a fatal accident, or poison, or an arrow out of nowhere. Maybe a stabbing. I don't know what we can do except stick to the king like glue."
"That's not going to be easy," said Rudy. "The king likes to mingle. He has his private business. If he excuses himself to go off with somebody, all you can do is excuse him."
"I think we need to talk to him about this," I said.
"He's not gonna listen," said Rudy.
"I'm afraid that's true," said Leo. "We've all talked to him about security at one time or another. Beyond a very minimal amount, he finds it oppressive."
"But if he holds the monarchy together, it is irresponsible of him to take chances," I said. "
I will talk to him."
"Good luck," said Rudy.
"The king is philosophical about that," said Leo. "He will tell you that too many precautions invite the trouble they are meant to forestall. And having lived in the U.S., who is to say that he is wrong about that? You can talk to him if you like, but I think it will actually be harder for us to look after him if he knows what we're doing."
"We need a dozen men to watch him without him noticing it," said Rudy. "We can pass him from team to team so he won't catch on. Even if he excuses himself, we can police the vicinity."
"I am inclined toward that plan," said Leo.
"What about poison?" I said.
We all exchanged glances. Leo laughed. "Who wants to be the taster?"
"Poison control requires a certain amount of cooperation from the person you don't want poisoned," I said.
"How would you want him to cooperate?"
"How about only eating what Hélène prepares? That would be pretty foolproof."
"He'd never agree to that," said Rudy. "The coronation is going to be a huge party. People are going to be bringing all kinds of stuff to eat and drink, and the king loves to eat."
"Most of the wedding gifts are going to be flowers and food," said Leo. "What else do people have to give? It would be an insult if the king didn't eat it."
"Poison is a hard way to make work right," said Rudy, "especially in a crowd. I'm thinking more about a knifing, or possibly an arrow."
"But if the knifer gets caught, it leads right back to the source," I said.
"Right," said Rudy. "There has to be a good opportunity to do it and get away. Or else it won't be tried. So we have to make sure the opportunity isn't there."
"All right," said Leo, "let's pick our teams and start practicing."
"I want to talk to the mage about this before we get started," I said. "I've known her a long time, and she doesn't miss much."
"By all means," said Leo. "It was certainly very good advice to bring you here."
"Thank you, Leo. I hope so, I really do."
It didn't take me long to find Marya, since she was looking for me. "Jack," she said, "I'm worried. The last few days, while everybody has been celebrating, I've had this very uncomfortable feeling. I can't sit still, I'm not sleeping well, and I have this impulse all the time to glance over my shoulder as if someone was stalking me."
"What's it all about?"
"I wish I knew for sure. That's the trouble with being what people call psychic. You're always trying to sort out what might be real from what you might be making up."
"Okay, I get that, but if something is coming in on the old teletype, I'm very interested, Marya."
"Tele-what? No, don't look at me like that. Those words from the future don't belong here, and that's why we have this game. Now roll it up."
"Ouch! You're too good at that."
"I remember you telling me that when you walked into the duke's hall, you felt like sticking your fingers in your ears, even though it was quiet. That's what it feels like in my body, like someone screaming with rage. I don't think we ought to be underestimating Hawke right now, or what he might be capable of."
When I told her about our plan to guard Albert, she began to shake so violently that we had to look for a place to sit down. "I'm okay," she said. "I'm actually very relieved. This is exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank God you're here, Jack. Take care of the king. He needs you more than ever now."
That very day we began shadowing Albert. We picked Gordon and eight others and filled them in on the game, which was to stay in close proximity to Albert all the time. If possible, one or more of us would keep him company, and since Albert was a convivial and social person, that was often easy. If he seemed to need some space, we would drift a short distance and form a protective ring around him.
Gordon was very creative in thinking up ways for us to communicate with each other through the whistling of certain tunes, and knocking codes on wood and on steel, special laughs and coughs and key words that made up a message system which worked up close and also at a distance. We could tell each other where Albert was going or what he was doing or what we were planning to do. In a week's time we had a network that was working well, and we continued to polish it. We shadowed Albert's visitors, coming and going. We monitored his food from wherever it came from to wherever he ate it. When he retired to bed, we left him alone, but other than that we held him in a tight circle of surveillance.
"I'm very pleased," said Leo to me. "This is a fine, committed team. We have a good system and we know how to improvise too. Of course some of our tricks are not going to work at a noisy party, but I think we can handle any situation."
"Well, let's keep our fingers crossed; but I agree with you, Leo. I think we've got it pretty well whipped."
That week, people by the hundreds came from all over the valley to bring something for the coronation, or to help with the preparations. Émile and Hélène lived in the eye of the hurricane, supervising the cleaning and decorating of the castle and the preparation of a feast for thousands of people. The livestock pens were bursting and the pantry and the larder overflowed into the halls. "It's not so difficult if you have the help," said Hélène serenely, though she was directing traffic with both hands. "The same thing happens every Christmas and Easter."
Sometimes Jenna tried to pitch in, but she was nervous and so full of her feelings that she misdirected people and botched things up. Hélène was like a mother to her, treating her with patience and understanding even though she was mostly in the way. "I was the same way just before I got married," she told me.
Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, coronation day dawned bright and clear. It seemed like a good sign, because the weather had been gusty and uncertain all week. Now the mid-morning sky was a brilliant blue, graced with a few fleecy clouds, and people were arriving in streams. They came by foot and in all manner of carts, merry and eager to enjoy the holiday.
How Albert's staff kept any order among so many guests was beyond me, but as Hélène said, they were used to it. The flowers all went to the special gallery that had been erected for the coronation ceremony. Foodstuff, depending on what it was, either was put aside for the banquet, or went right out on the tables for people to snack on. The carts were directed to the big meadow south of the castle as soon as they were unloaded.
I had seen bigger crowds in my time, but never one so merry and so talented at entertaining itself. Instruments appeared everywhere, all sorts of flutes and drums and homemade stringed instruments of all sizes and shapes, and everywhere were small circles of people who played and sang and danced. Amateur performers also gathered their crowds with juggling, acrobatics, and magic tricks. Barefoot children ran in and out of the crowds.
Albert, shining with his inner light and as full of joy as anyone there, went from one little group to the next, staying long enough to sing a little and dance a little, before moving on. Never losing his dignity or his humanity either, he touched everyone with his love, and blushed with all the love he received.
Dugdale and Charlsey arrived in an open coach with several servants in livery, followed by a wagonload of flowers and presents. Charlsey looked very pretty in what looked to be a new gown, and happier than I had ever seen her previously. At an event like this she would never have to stop twirling and talking, and she seemed ready to make the most of it. Dugdale, immaculately dressed and barbered, tagged along, happy as a hound to see his lady enjoying herself so much.
Griswold rode in about the same time, all by himself. He looked a little uncomfortable, as though it was hard for him to keep up his ironic front in the face of such universal gaiety. He rode slowly, glancing around like a new arrival, as though he was wondering what all those people could possibly be doing. When he saw me, he walked his horse over to where I was standing and dismounted, giving me his usual smirk for a greeting.
"Hello, Darcey. See any girls you like?" It was typical for him to talk as though everyo
ne's instincts were always base. Griswold was very pure in his philosophy; he believed humans had begun wearing clothes by accident, and that civilization had always been more than we could handle.
"Give me a chance, Harvey. I'm just getting my feet on the ground around here."
"Sure you are." It was also typical for him to behave as if everything anyone said was a cover-up. "How about walking me over to the stables?"
"Sure," I said, signaling to Leo that I was going off with Griswold. Leo returned a slight nod: he would take over. Griswold surprised me by reading our silent communication like a book.
"Are you guys tightening up the security around the king?"
I nodded, seeing no reason to lie about it.
"Did Albert tell you to do that?"
"No, this is our own idea, and you need to keep it to yourself."
"Don't worry," he shrugged, as though it was a pointless thing to say to him. "That Albert! He's such a baby! Going around pretending he knows everybody's name. Actually, it's a good thing you came along when you did, Darcey. Hawke had Albert outmaneuvered every which way, and Albert just wasn't about to stand up to him."
"I thought he did a pretty good job of it the other day."
"Yes, but he had to, don't you see? You set him up for it, and there was nothing else he could do."
"We won't argue about it," I said, feeling annoyed with him. "I know you have your own way of looking at things, Harvey, but I see one hell of a good king in Albert."
He gave me an appraising look. "You sound very loyal."
"I am. To begin with this kingdom is his dream-child, and I like it here better than anywhere I've ever lived in my life."
"Okay, I don't blame you for liking it here. And I think Albert is doing a pretty good half-assed job of being a king."
"Oh? And what kind of a job are you doing as an earl?"
"Who cares about being an earl? I'm interested in coitus. Look, Darcey, I like it here too, just the way it is. And as a matter of fact, I was going to suggest that we keep a closer eye on Albert, but I see you guys are way ahead of me. By the way, what do you think of this castle?"
"What do I think of the castle?"